Murphy Blog

Honestly nancy I agree with Sally on this one... unless you are trying to get Ellie in for TPO before the joints go bad if she has dysplasia, what's the point (I forget how old she is)? Save yourself the money AND the stress.(becuase you KNOW it's gonna stress you hugely if you know she has any degree of hip dysplasia... you'll wind up stressing over her as much as Murph) Even if she is clinically dysplastic, if she's not showing signs of pain... you aren't going to have to do surgery anyway. I've heard some dogs go their whole lives as a clinically dysplastic to varying degrees and never show signs of pain like we know it... bunny hopping, etc.
If, in the future, Ellie begins to show signs of hip dysplasia and pain then you can get her x-rayed.
Now, if it makes you feel better, why don't you get her on a joint supplement(s)... it can't hurt and if she's related to Murph, then she might be predisposed and it might help to get her whatever boost you can... also maybe try and keep her weight down and keep her on a good food...
 
Hey... I've got several x-rays showing me that Oliver's knees and elbows are just fine... so you're welcome to join our club lol
 
I do hope his hip gets in line... hey and I explain to everyone that will listen what's wrong with him too... when you see a dog shaved, scarred, walking funny down the street I feel the need to tell complete strangers exactly what's wrong with him...
Our most recent problem is that since he walks funny on his left foot (sort of twisted out and sideways) his nail cuts into the side of his pad even when cut short cause he sort of walks on the side of his foot slightly pressing all the nails into each other.. I don't want to wind up with a massive pad/paw infection and those things are a pain to heal..... sigh.
 

While we're talking about HD dogs.......are there any other kind?  I just wanted to mention that when we first were going through all this with Casey, and we were having a consultation with the surgeon, he said "If you went outside and gathered all the dogs you could find, and x-rayed them, between 1/3 & 1/2 will have some degree of HD. It doesn't matter if they're big or small, purebred or mixed.  And most of them will never need surgery."  I remember thinking, oh lucky me.  He also said that even as severe as Casey is, probably 2/3 of her littermates would also have HD and there'd probably be some that were perfectly fine.
 
So, I vote with Karen.  If you feel the need to spend money, spend it on supplements.  The positioning needed for good x-rays is not comfortable, can actually leave the dog hurting for days, and they need to knock the dog out for the x-rays, etc.etc.
 
It took me a long time to relax about it........the whole subject can make you crazy. And you know that I expect to go through another THR, but, I'll cross that bridge when we get there.   In the meantime, I'm just really enjoying living with my very wonderful and (I guess) disabled heart dog!

Thanks you two. I knew you'd be positive. I'm only on this late because I've been working for the past two hours online and thought this would make my night end on a more positive note.
 
I have given El a supplement, but thanks for encouraging that one. I hope it isn't contributing to her crystals! (just kidding--I think) I'll ask the vet tomorrow and go from there. I guess one of my worries was that there were 5 puppies dumped at the shelter a little under 3 years ago, and apparently Ellie already had that broken back right leg. So, Murphy probably had his HD and recently El and Murph's foster mom told me that one of their other sisters (who she adopted because nobody wanted her) is having trouble getting up. I should say, though, that she's a more, er, generous-sized girl. She's like a big Murphy. And I mean big. So, 2 out of 5 there. However, El is slim and so is Murphy (more on that in a second) so if I can get rid of my guilt over somehow lucking out with the HD dogs, then things will be fine, right? Until they're not and then, as you've both said, we deal with things then.
 
Okay, so enough on that. Murphy has lost 10 lbs since coming to my house (we'll be celebrating his 6-month anniversary of being with me in 2 weeks). Both of them will be 3 in June, but can I just say you wouldn't know it to see them? They are so flipping immature I can't believe it. Can you do any worse for yourself than to get terrier/lab mixes? You get the mouthy, the pushy, the insistent, the toughies, the stick-thin legs and Lab torso shapes. You get it all with this kind of a mix. I always thought Ellie would magically change when she turned one1. And then 1 came and went and she was the same--naughty. And then 2 came and went and yes, she was the same. And now I have two of them. Two siblings. Oh boy. The only difference is that Ellie is sneaky and Murphy is not. Other than that, yes, both very similar.
 
On a lighter note (once again), Murphy is the first male dog I've ever had and I can see a difference (a BIG difference) between him and the females. You know how some men really think that "forcing it" will fix things? They beat on the water pipes, rip out (rather than unscrew) objects, push really hard as they fix up a fence, etc?
 
Well, that's so Murphy. They have some shared puzzles, puzzles that El has managed so nicely to keep in decent working order, and he's just slammed through them, broken them, ripped them up, and made some of them useless. He doesn't want to take the time to "roll" a cube around, he wants to rip it open and take the treats out. And so he has.
 
Now he can no longer play with some of her puzzles because he's too rough on them! I  won't let him. He watches her, fascinated, as she rolls things around and as she carries and drops her puzzles, but he lacks patience and ends up "forcing" them all. Amazing. Just so amazing. I shouldn't be shocked. And he's very quick to grab them from me so that he can force things out of them, too. Oh boy.
 
But the part I really like is his constant loyalty to me. My sister came over tonight and Murphy, shy, AntiSocial Murphy lay in the doorway, keeping his distance, but being where he could see me. He's really so into me. So into me. He loves to put his head on me and rest (neither Kina nor Ellie have ever done that) and when a Lab puppy came to crawl into my lap at a class a couple of weeks ago, Murph pushed him off with a small growl. Nobody is going to take his Mom away. Nobody. (Of course Ellie is the boss of Murphy so he doesn't ever pop off at her. But anyone else? Oh yes.)
 
He's settling down more and more, but he's definitely a go get 'em guy. No wonder he's lost weight! The guy hardly sleeps when I'm home. He's up wtih me and he's busy--ripping into this toy and that toy, constantly checking on the cats, following me around. He's amazing. If he didn't have HD, I'd fear for my sanity. As it is, I get a tiny bit of relief from him and his constant need to be "on the go."
 
He's a blast, really, and I like having a boy dog, even if he's a "forcer" one.